Venice, 1681. Glassblowing is the lifeblood of the Republic, and Venetian mirriors are more precious than gold. Jealously guarded by the murderous Council of Ten, the glassblowers of Murano are virutally imprisoned on their island in the lagoon. But the greatest of the artists, Corradino Manin, sells his methods and his soul to Louis XIV of France to protect his secret daughter. In the present day, his descendent, Leonara Manin, leaves London for...

"Venice, 1576. Five years after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto, a ship steals unnoticed into Venice bearing a deadly cargo. A man, more dead than alive, disembarks and staggers into Piazza San Marco. He brings a gift to Venice from Constantinople. Within days the city is infected with bubonic plague--and the Turkish Sultan has his revenge. But the ship also holds a secret stowaway--Feyra, a young and beautiful harem doctor...